Declaring that “we will not experiment with our children any longer,” on May 24, 1994, George Allen announced the appointment of the Commission on Champion Schools to restore academic integrity and improve the academic performance of Virginia’s students. After traveling across the Commonwealth hearing first-hand the concerns of parents, Allen launched his signature education reform effort focused on implementing rigorous academic standards, ensuring accountability, increasing parental and community involvement, and ensuring safety in schools.

“For the past four years in Virginia, education reform efforts have been adrift, lacking a solid, academic vision. Instead, past efforts have focused on attitudinal outcomes and self-esteem,” stated Allen. “A solid and rigorous academic background will help our students as they enter the world of work far more than sensitivity training and self-esteem counseling…  We have a clear mandate for change, and education reform is a big part of it. The people of Virginia demand and deserve real reform. It’s now our responsibility to deliver it.”

Based on the Commission’s recommendations, Virginia adopted nationally recognized Standards of Learning (SOLs) to guide academic curriculum in the core subjects of English, math, science, and history combined with testing to ensure accountability and a School Performance Report Card that provides parents and students information on their school’s academic, attendance, and safety performances.

In fulfilling his major campaign promise to reform education, Allen helped give Virginia a top-rated public education system that today finds Virginia students ranking at or near the top on national tests while the percentage of schools achieving or exceeding test scores to qualify for full accreditation has risen dramatically from 2.7 percent in 1998 to 98 percent in 2010-2011.